Nutballs (with vegan option)
“Goofy name, delicious holiday cookie. These were my favorite cookies at Christmastime growing up, from my mom's old family recipe. After I became vegan, my mom veganized the recipe and made me a special batch every year.”
Megan Adamson-Jackes
Creative Director
NYC
What pairs best with this recipe?
Neighborhood holiday party.
What were some of your 2024 obsessions?
Chappell Roan.
Ingredients:
½ cup butter or vegan substitute (Miyoko’s vegan butter is my preferred)
3 Tbs. sugar
1 cup flour
pinch of salt
1 Tbs. cream or non-dairy milk
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
½ tsp. almond extract
2 cups powdered sugar
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 F.
Cream butter and sugar in a medium bowl with a fork. Add flour, salt and walnuts and mix butter into the dry ingredients. The mixture should be very dry.
Now add milk and almond extract (and food coloring, if you’re using it—my mom added pink food coloring to the dough and pink decorating sugar to the powdered sugar so I knew which were the vegan cookies). You don’t want the dough too moist, it should be dry and crumbly. If it’s not dry enough after adding the milk, throw in some extra flour.
Roll into 1 inch balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Cook for 30 to 35 minutes until the cookies are just barely starting to brown. If you made the dough right, the cookies should be pretty much the same shape as when they went in. If the dough is too moist, the cookies will spread out somewhat.
Put the powdered sugar in a medium bowl. When the cookies are still warm but cool enough to handle, roll them in the powdered sugar, and place them on a cookie rack. After you’ve gone through and rolled each cookie, start back at the beginning and give them a second roll in the powdered sugar.
